In the age of short attention spans, brands are constantly competing to captivate their audience through creative and engaging ways possible.
Insight: Today’s marketers recognise the importance of video in their marketing strategy but are not able to follow through in a way that delivers tangible results.
Data: Marketers who use video grow revenue 49% faster and receive 41% more web traffic than non-video users. (Social Media Today)
Key Action Point: Use these tips and insights to guide you in creating a powerful video marketing strategy that drives results in every stage of the buyer journey.
We’ve seen a video revolution for the past few years. There’s a reason it stands out as one of the most entertaining forms of content available today — it’s able to engage audiences far longer than any other content ever could. And marketers are quick to take advantage, with these reported statistics from Social Media Today to back it up.
81% of brands today already feature video on their website
52% of marketing professionals worldwide name video as the type of content with the best ROI
7 out of 10 marketing professionals are optimising video for SEO
Of the 65% of executives who visit a website, 39% will call a vendor after watching a video
Even as some brands are coming up with their first video content, new trends in video creation and production are already emerging.
Here are great reasons why should CMOs seriously consider video as part of their marketing strategy.
Manifesto Videos. These are an effective way to communicate your brand and what it stands for. They’re produced to showcase a company’s purpose effectively. As a result, a manifesto video elevates your brand and helps you connect with potential customers and employees at an emotional level, build brand loyalty, and gain advocates.
Explainer Videos. These are short eye-catching videos that help a business introduce a new idea or a product effectively. Explainer videos engage your viewers and help them understand who you are, what you do, and what your products do to solve their pain points.
Customer Testimonials. You leverage testimonials to share your brand story and get the social proof needed to increase conversion. Video testimonials from customers make your brand become more authentic, which helps build trust and drive customer loyalty.
Live Video. As live streaming grows in scale with platforms like Facebook live, YouTube live, and Instagram stories, today’s top brands are flocking to these platforms as a new way to attract attention for their latest product offerings. Not only does this drive conversion, it’s a quick way to promote brand awareness while saving time and money.
Vlogging. They’ve captured the hearts of YouTube viewers by storm. Vloggers (bloggers with a video cam) are hitting millions of likes for every video they release and it is for good reason. Vlogging helps you to better connect with your audience. Check out today’s top vloggers and you’ll notice they have a solid community of loyal subscribers in their YouTube channels, who they can easily interact with and promote their latest videos and sponsorships to.
YouTube Ads. In 2019, we’re expecting the prevalence of more brands turning to YouTube ads instead of expensive TV ads. With over 1.8 billion subscribers at its reach, more brands are taking advantage of these platforms to engage with a wider audience.
360-Degree videos. The goal this year and into the future is giving audiences a more interactive experience. The launch of 360-degree videos gave brands the ability to do so, drawing their audience with a more immersive experience and a new way to convey their offer. These work perfectly with travel brands where you can showcase beautiful locations all around the world in a 360-degree video.
Virtual reality. Virtual reality is another way to add more value to your offer by giving audiences a new immersive experience. This is set to become adopted even further by more businesses in 2019. One such example is Lowe’s, which offers their customers the actual feel of modeling their homes through their virtual reality programs.
Today’s new breed of online consumers has changed the game for marketers. They are richly informed and go through the buying process on their own. This means using video throughout the user journey is crucial to guide them in every stage of the marketing funnel.
In fact, data from Aberdeen points out that 60% of today’s best companies are using video throughout the customer journey. This means videos shouldn’t just be leveraged at the top of the funnel. To ensure an effective marketing strategy that gives positive impact to the bottom line, consider using videos throughout your marketing funnel.
It’s important to use the right video at the right stage of the marketing campaign. Here’s a quick guide on the type of marketing video you can use in a specific stage of the funnel.
Video content at this stage is directed towards building brand awareness, attracting high-quality leads, and educating them about what you do. The marketing videos that are perfect at giving your prospects a high-level overview of your offer and what you can do to solve their problem could be the following:
Potential customers will need that extra push to make an informed decision to buy. They would want to know what makes your product or service offering the best solution to their problem. For this purpose, marketers use these types of video content to easily and consistently capture their unique product messaging:
Webinars
Product demos
Case studies
Bottom of the funnel video content are more focused; they are made for leads who are progressing further down the funnel and into the conversion stage.
Webinar
Product demos
AR videos
FAQ videos
Personalised video messages to customers
There are many factors to consider when it comes to video production costing. It varies depending on your needs, your strategy, the complexity, and the quality. It also depends on the length of the video, the filming location, licensing, turnaround time, and video style.
Know more about the different video styles in this blog post: How Much Does a Video Cost?
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to include up-to-date information.